BOSTON (Reuters) - The chance of having an appendix removed
unnecessarily has plummeted since 1996 in the United States,
possibly because more doctors are using CT scans to confirm
appendicitis diagnoses, researchers said on Wednesday.

The likelihood of an unnecessary appendectomy went from 24
percent in 1996 down to 3 percent in 2006, according to a team
led by Dr. Steven Raman at the University of California, Los
Angeles.

Their survey of 1,081 people who had had an appendix
removed, showed the use of CT scans to check for suspected
appendicitis went from 20 percent in 1996 to 85 percent 10
years later.

About 8 percent of the population develops appendicitis at
some point in their lives as the finger-like sac at the start
of the large intestine becomes enlarged and inflamed.

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If the sac bursts, it can be fatal. Doctors have
historically erred on the side of surgery when it looked like a
patient with abdominal pain might have appendicitis.

The results appear in a letter to the New England Journal
of Medicine.